What If This Interview... Had Brentalfloss?

First ever interview for my blog and
it's with Brent "Brentalfloss" Black? HECK YEAH! Highfives all round! [Excerpt] For those who don't know who he is, shame on you. Go to the youtube link at the
bottom of the page right meow then
come back here to enjoy the interview! Brentalfloss is widely known for his
"What if ______ had lyrics?" youtube video series where he adds
lyrics to classic game music, such as tracks from Zelda, Megaman, and Mario.
Now, excuse me while I swoon from the sudden realization that I got to
interview with Mr. Floss.

How long have you been playing music and when did your love of videogames and
music first intertwine?

I
first started goofing around on the piano around age 8. The first time music and video games intertwined
for me was probably when I learned the
overworld tune from Super Mario Bros. After that came Zelda, Dragon Warrior, and countless others.

What
instruments do you play?

I
mostly stick to the piano, but I'm also familiar with guitar, drums, ukulele, and accordion.

What
made you think of starting the "... with lyrics," series?

Originally,
I just thought it would be a funny idea to add lyrics to a video game tune I liked, and that led to a video.
I didn't really think of it as a series
until I saw the internet's response to "Mega Man 3 With Lyrics." Once I saw how many people liked it, I thought I'd try to capture lightning in a bottle a second
time. After that, it stopped being a
fluke and became a series.

What
was your favorite "... with lyrics," video to make?

My
favorite one to make was probably the first one, because it was just a fun experiment. At this point, the fun part is
being done with a new one and watching
the comments roll in.

Where
there any major differences between working on your first CD, What if this CD.... Had Lyrics?, and
your second CD, Bits of Me?

The
main difference in the process was quality control. The first CD was an experiment in seeing whether we could pull
off a high-quality album made of my silly
brentalfloss stuff. Once the answer came back a resounding "YES," our challenge was to make an even better disc the second time around, which made my
sound engineer and I a lot more aware of
every step of the process.

How
did you end up playing for Video Games Live? How was it?

Basically,
I attended a Q & A panel in Canada led by Tommy Tallarico. Afterwards, we started talking and he
invited me to play a few shows.
Definitely the best convention panel I ever went to (laughs).

Is
there any other project that you are a part of that you would like more people
to be aware of?

I
am working on some projects no one knows about yet, but sometimes I keep those things under wraps for a while, the way a
magician might until he's perfected a
card trick to show it to an audience. That said,
I wish more people knew about "brentalfloss: The Comic," my webcomic. We're just a few weeks away from our 100th
strip, but still less prominent than we'd
like to be.

What
are your plans for the future?

My
plans for the future? Paying the rent, feeding myself, and making my girlfriend happy. Seriously though, I want
to continue striking a balance between
making my fans happy and having fun with my work. If I focus too much on giving the fans everything they ask for,
it can start to feel like slave labor which
doesn't help the quality of the work. On
the other hand, if I go off and focus only on the weird, "out there" stuff I want to try, my fan base
might feel like I've turned my back on them.
So it's all about balance, but as far as I'm
concerned, the future is bright and full of possibilities!